Theologian participating in Synod on Synodality heralds heterodox views

Madrid, Spain, Oct 1, 2024 / 07:00 am

Spanish theologian Cristina Inogés, appointed by Pope Francis to participate in the Synod on Synodality, argues in a recently released document that “Christianity should never have become a religion.”

In a September article titled “Del Sínodo al jubileo: construyendo comunidad en diálogo” (“From the Synod to the Jubilee: Building Community in Dialogue”), Inogés argues that Jesus sought to hand on a way of life and human relationships based on fraternity, not to found an institutionalized religion with hierarchies and “to separate a small part from the rest, the priests — the clergy — although with influence, a lot of influence, over the rest.”

“Jesus carried out his mission in everyday life, in the reality of every day and far from the temple, to which he only makes his way in order to be the protagonist in the only [incident of] enormous anger he has in the entire Gospel: an episode related to the abuse of power and which resulted in the expulsion of the merchants,” she states.

Inogés, who studied at the Protestant School of Theology in Madrid (SEUT), believes that the origins of the Synod of Synodality are found in the Aparecida Conference held in 2007 and, particularly, in Pope Francis’ greeting after his election in which “there were no triumphal gestures.”

For Inogés, the Synod on Synodality, which will hold its second session in October, must be based on the idea that Jesus Christ “did not leave us a pre-designed Church structure but a way of life.”

Reflections on the Eucharist

In another part of the article, Inogés gives an interpretation of the Gospel account of the celebration of the Passover before the Passion in which she downplays the sacrificial meaning of the Eucharist.

For the author, “in the account of the feast of the Passover that Jesus celebrated with all those who accompanied him — although the Gospels only speak of the Twelve — and that we have turned into the Last Supper, we see that the core of the celebration is not centered on the body and blood. The most important thing is that the one who is going to give his flesh and blood lowers himself once again to show that his logic is that of service and not of power.”

In her dissertation, the theologian affirms that “the table is for everyone. The only one who could create rules and laws for someone to approach it is Jesus, whose table it is. And he didn’t do it. And he doesn’t do it. And he won’t do it.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church develops the essential teachings on the Eucharist in Nos. 1322–1419, which presents it as the central sacrament of Christian life, instituted by Christ, in which he himself becomes truly present to nourish and strengthen the faithful on their journey toward eternal life.

The Code of Canon Law addresses related matters in Canons 899–933. The possibility of receiving Communion despite being in grave sin is restricted to there being ”a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.” 

Further, “those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy Communion.”

In developing her thesis, Inogés also states that “Jesus does not impose obligations like the Ten Commandments; Jesus presents a program [for living] in the Beatitudes.” 

However, the catechism states in No. 2072: “Since they express man’s fundamental duties toward God and toward his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart.”

‘Sacramental functionaries, men in meeting after meeting’

In a section dedicated to priests in the extensive 30-page article, Inogés points out that “all the baptized, but even more so priests, are called to proclaim liberating news and not sets of rules and prohibitions.”

She also sets forth her view that the initial formation of seminarians and the ongoing formation of priests after their ordination is too focused on “the fact that the priest must continue to be configured to Christ the servant, Christ the shepherd, Christ the priest, and Christ the head,” and thus wonders: “Where is Jesus the man?”

The theologian then criticizes “the figure and being of the priest tending to be very spiritualized and centered on worship, running the risk of ending up being sacramental functionaries and men in meetings about having more meetings.”

Inogés explains that “transforming the pulpits into places for dialogue and the confessionals into welcoming places is not something that only challenges you as priests but must touch all areas of our churches, all parish settings.”

Synodality and the Second Vatican Council

In the last pages of the text, the theologian argues that the upcoming jubilee called by Pope Francis is a kind of extension of the Synod of Synodality “so that we can continue to enjoy the reconstruction of that Church that the Second Vatican Council designed so well, although it soon became blurred and ended up unrecognizable and, on many occasions, contrary to the council itself.”

For Inogés, with the Synod of Synodality “the time has come for the possibility of beginning to give shape to the conciliar dream of Vatican II.”

“The generation that was the protagonist of that council is in its last days. If we lose their memory, we will really lose our memory and we may repeat the mistakes that were made,” she adds.

The Second Vatican Council was one of the most important ecclesial events of the 20th century. It began in 1962 and was divided into four stages, which concluded in 1965 under Pope Paul VI. Approximately 2,000 council fathers from all over the world participated.

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The theologian closes her article with a wish for reformulating the Nicene Creed to read: “‘I believe in a holy, catholic, apostolic Church for everyone, everyone, everyone. Amen.’”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.